What's that Barge Doing Out on the Sound?
by Judy Silberstein
(October 6, 2003) Smack in the middle of the Long Island
Sound is a large barge. Even on a misty day, from Larchmont's
Manor Park it’s
hard to miss its massive bulk topped by a towering crane.
At night,
the
barge looms
out of the darkness, lit by a number of powerful lights.
So what’s it doing out there?
According to the Harbor Masters, Jim Mancusi in Mamaroneck
and Sal Gugliara in New Rochelle, there has been a series
of barges in the Sound off and on since last November. They've
been laying a pipeline to get natural gas from Canada to
New York City.
Soundkeeper Terry Backer has also been keeping an environmentalist’s
eye on the barges.
What we’re seeing off of Manor Park is the final
stage of the “Eastchester Extension” Project,
explained spokesperson Nancy Flannigan with the Iroquois
Pipeline Operating
Company. Iroquois is a relatively small company with roughly
377 miles of pipeline, and the extension will add about 36
more.
Illustration Courtesy of Iroquois Pipeline
Operating Company
The pipe, measuring 24-inches in diameter, originates in
Northport, Long Island, dips under the waters of the Long
Island Sound, and ends at Hunts Point in the Bronx. From
there it connects with Con-Ed’s distribution system
supplying gas for New York City. Westchester’s gas
comes through a different pipeline, referred to as the “Algonquin.”
Running gas and electric cables under the Sound has been
controversial for years. Support comes from communities
with both high-energy costs and high-energy demand (like
many
on Long Island), while opposition comes from environmental
groups and communities where energy is relatively plentiful
and
cheap (like Connecticut).
Iroquois dropped plans for a further Eastern Long Island
expansion this February.
The current project, though, is nearing
completion and the barge is due to depart this week. This
barge or a similar one will be back for another (perhaps
final) tour of duty in November,
and the extension
should be operational
by the end of the year.
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